Official Winter Skin Contest Thread

[dam]

Originally posted by Atmo
It's a bit isnt it??

Btw, are we even supposed to be posting previews?? Wasnt mentioned in the rules.

LOL. You cathcing the mr j virus atmo?

For all of you who havent been around here that long : http://forums.winamp.com/showthread....hlight=beverly

[Atmo]

Heh...Probably.

Just realised that it was posted the second day i was a member here...Probably why i remember it...The rest is just a blurr..

[FooMonkey]

hum...when I saw that pic a different word came to mind...(if you read through the other threads you may know what I'm talking about...)

[J. Burnaway]

I never watched the next generation - but her cheeks are pretty "beverly" too.

[Jellby]

Originally posted by J. Burnaway

I thought about doing this like the avatar contest (i.e. no peeky!), but I talked it over with ¤db¤, and he pointed out that some people like the input, so posting incomplete skins is allowed.

After all, an avatar - unlike a skin - has no real use, it's made just for fun. A skin has a purpose and we all like to have great skins, so previews and comments are always welcome

[J. Burnaway]

Originally posted by Jellby


After all, an avatar - unlike a skin - has no real use, it's made just for fun. A skin has a purpose and we all like to have great skins, so previews and comments are always welcome

Okay dude, then I gotta comment for that Skinnner's Atlas skin you did:

Awful! Worst Skin Ever!
Posted by CeO_VIRUS on Monday, June 17th, 2002 at 09:08 PM CEST

[Jellby]

I just LOVE CeO_VIRUS, he's my man, I hope I can be like him some day...

[J. Burnaway]

"Don't you forget about me" - Simple Minds

[StillWater]

I'm still trying to find a theme/idea

[J. Burnaway]

You are at a bit of a disadvantage, seeing as it is mid-Spring there.

[FooMonkey]

Originally posted by J. Burnaway
"Don't you forget about me" - Simple Minds

whah? I am unable to comprehend your subleties....please explain

[Kepstin]

I think i'm gonna join in this. Might as well finish a skin

I'm gonna start with this:
[edit: wrong attachment]

[e-raser]

when is the dew date?

[Jellby]

I still don't know if I'm going to find any time to make a skin, but may I ask the deadline to be 8th instead of 4th? Here we celebrate the 6th January (you know, Epiphany, the Three Wise Men, we get presents and everyone is happy...) and holidays last until 7th at least, and I'll more likely find time in holidays.

[J. Burnaway]

I might extend the due date four days, if you really think that would be the difference in deciding whether or not to submit a skin. I am reluctant to do it because what is to stop people from asking to extend it again? Yours is a good reason though.

Jellby, if you are really serious that those 4 days will make a difference, just PM to say so, and it will be done.

However, after that extension - NO MORE!

[dam]

So who are these *expert* judges?

[skinme!]

Now that'd be telling..

[J. Burnaway]

Originally posted by dam
So who are these *expert* judges?

In order to avoid a debacle of the type that hit the Winter Olympic figure skating competition this year, I am currently keeping the judges in a safe house - the same one being used by US Vice President Dick Cheney. They survive on a diet of bologna sandwiches and Mountain Dew, and they each look at an average of 2,132 winamp skins a day, to prepare for the upcoming ordeal. That isn't to say that the right amount of money in the right hands couldn't pry some vital information out of me!

[StillWater]

I've finally got an idea. Will see how I go. I don't know if this skin will totally satisfy my winter needs, so I might make 2 skins, actually - though that might be counting my chickens before they hatch...

[skinme!]

Originally posted by ¤db¤
though that might be counting my chickens before they hatch...

We don't want any battery farming here, mister -- be sure they're free range.

[StillWater]

I'm up to my third idea already - I'm being a bit indecisive

Most recent idea: As summer encroaches here in Melbourne, my alcoholic consumption focuses more and more on beer and cool, mixed drinks. But one of my favourite ways to warm up on long winter nights is with Polish vodka! Polish vodka is the oldest and highest quality vodka in the world - though don't take my word for it :

"The three most astonishing things in the past half-century have been the blues, cubism and Polish vodka..."
Pablo Picasso

But what's very important skin-wise - many Polish vodkas come in very beautifully designed bottles. But this could just be another unhatched chicken (though if hatched, it would be free range of course). Anyone else started on their skin?

[StillWater]

Decided against the Vodka skin.

I'm not asking for any feedback for anything except one thing, since it's way too early for that.
The thing I want to know is: why do the footprint EQ bars look so shit, and what could I do to make them better and/or more realistic? C'mon, show me your technical know-how

At the moment, all I can think of is to make the footprints that are closer to us darker.

[Jellby]

Don't ask me how to make snow realistic... but I guess they are perhaps too dark (the only thing we should see is the shadow, and light should come from the right, right? ) and there's too much perspective: to match the picture, the farther footprints should be larger than that. And there's that gradient in the right part of the main...

By the way, nice start

[StillWater]

Definately my favourite volume bar of all those I've done (not to mention the most time-consuming) What do you think? Can something be improved?



(the screenshot has made the blue background a little blurry/blocky)

[skinme!]

On the foot prints.. they're not random enough. I mean perhaps a few horizontal footprints intermingled would be nice. Also perhaps there is not enough exagerration of zig-zaging. I would imagine snow is hard to walk through and so we would tend to make our motion more exagerated. And perhaps they should be deeper. Or maybe not..depends on the scale of the tree stump. The main thing is the order of them... need some random feet thrown in.

The volbar... wow! db, shall I just bow down now?

[Jellby]

After seeing that volume, I'm quitting skinning





Just one suggestion: have you considered flipping it horizontally?
I was wondering how you did make it, but knowing you work with video stuff I guess you have cams and video caputuring/editing software for that (although I don't think you actually did shot the scene yourself )

P.S. Another suggestion: the birds are perhaps too black, a bit of brown and/or white could be good.

[StillWater]

Footprints: Good suggestions from both of you - thanks; I'll see what I can do. If I can't do something good, I might scrap the footprints idea altogether. I think would just be too many of them - it looks like some kind of stampede, but without any animals at the end of the tracks

Volume: thanks for the compliments
I found a 9-frame GIF of an eagle flying (but not attacking). I used that as a base to draw the 28 frames in PSP. I also had a couple of JPGs of eagles with their talons out that I used as a reference when doing the last few attacking frames. The little bird getting chased was actually just made from certain frames of the eagle, but made smaller.
Flipping the volume horizontally is most definately a good idea - I'll do that. And putting some brown onto the birds is a good idea too; I'll see if I can do it successfully.

After I finished it, I found out that eagles (at least some of them) migrate for the winter. So......*clears throat*.......it's not an eagle - it's a different kind of bird of prey - a winter-loving one.

I'm thinking of putting more animals/birds into the skin. I think the preset button will be a snow owl or an arctic fox, perhaps. Any ideas?

[dam]

That's the best volume I've ever seen.

About the footprints : Theyre a really good idea. You could flip them vertically so the direction of the prints is towards you. You dont need any animal at the end then. Its like you turning back and looking at your own prints in the snow.

[Jellby]

Originally posted by ¤db¤
After I finished it, I found out that eagles (at least some of them) migrate for the winter. So......*clears throat*.......it's not an eagle - it's a different kind of bird of prey - a winter-loving one.

One of these perhaps? As I said, not much snow, but you can find it in some of the green zones too

[skinme!]

Originally posted by ¤db¤
Footprints: Good suggestions from both of you - thanks; I'll see what I can do. If I can't do something good, I might scrap the footprints idea altogether. I think would just be too many of them - it looks like some kind of stampede, but without any animals at the end of the tracks

Hmmm, you could have a boot in the last footprint like the eagle stole the person and yanked them out of their boots! Ok, just joking. dam has spoken sense.

About the fox, yuppers, I love foxes.

Jellybean, isn't the EU site just full of information. Me does "European Studies" so I have lots of "fun" reading such childhood stories as the "Treaty of the European Union". Yipeee. Although finding out about Europe is fun. Even if we have to study Spain

[StillWater]

Originally posted by Jellby


One of these perhaps?

That's right!!

I think the site I saw that said they migrate was talking about Bald Eagles. If I was bald, I'd want to get out of the snow too

[Jellby]

Originally posted by skinme!
Jellybean, isn't the EU site just full of information. Me does "European Studies" so I have lots of "fun" reading such childhood stories as the "Treaty of the European Union". Yipeee. Although finding out about Europe is fun. Even if we have to study Spain

Erm... "Jellybean" is me?
I'm afraid you're confusing "Europe" with "Eagle", yeah, they both start and end with an "e", but the middle of the word is different

[skinme!]

Originally posted by Jellby
Erm... "Jellybean" is me?
I'm afraid you're confusing "Europe" with "Eagle", yeah, they both start and end with an "e", but the middle of the word is different

Jellby, I wasn't being *that* stoopid. I beleive you linked to a subsite of .

I've got that in more languages if you need it:













Is that clear enough for you?

[Jellby]

I don't think you're stupid at all, I was just joking. The stupid is me, I don't fully understand what you meant... Did you think I was linking to a general EU site instead of an specific page (which happens to be in an EU site)? Nevermind, forget it, it was funny while it lasted

P.S. Or maybe you were just commenting how much you can learn from the EU site...

[skinme!]

Originally posted by Jellby
I don't think you're stupid at all, I was just joking. The stupid is me, I don't fully understand what you meant... Did you think I was linking to a general EU site instead of an specific page (which happens to be in an EU site)? Nevermind, forget it, it was funny while it lasted

P.S. Or maybe you were just commenting how much you can learn from the EU site...

No, I knew you were refering only to the bird page. My mind is trained to shout EU! EU! EU! at people. Damn teachers!

[not in santiago]

About the footprints:

I think they look weird because 1) the perspective is too severe (i.e., the footprints get too small too quickly) and 2) I think (and I could just be overstimulated at the moment, so take this with a grain of salt) the tracks look too . . . monopedial. It looks like the same footprint repeated - there's no left or right, just one print going back and forth.

But I really like the idea! Try and go with it, if you can.

Will try and comment on the rest as soon as I achieve homeostasis.

[Jellby]

Originally posted by skinme!

No, I knew you were refering only to the bird page. My mind is trained to shout EU! EU! EU! at people. Damn teachers!

[Last off-topic (I hope)]:
EU in German? -> Sounds "Oy" as in "boy"
EU in Portuguese? -> Means I
[/off-topic]

[StillWater]

The top blue part of the picture is not a uniform blue. So I needed to airbrush all around the place so that the backgrounds of the VIS, NUMBERS, and TEXT would be invisible. Have I smoothed it out enough? It looks ok on my monitor, but I know from experience that other people's (especially not in santiago's) monitors are sometimes much more sensitive than mine. Do those things look seamless enough?

Does the colour of the text & vis look ok?

Don't mind the EQ bars with their crappy burrows - I'm going to try something totally different with them now.

[Atmo]

Looks pretty good to me.

[J. Burnaway]

Looks pretty good. I don't have that good a monitor (actually, it's a piece of crap) but there are areas in the upper left and lower left where you can tell there has been some airbrushing. It isn't that noticeable, and the screenshot was blown up, so I'm not sure it would be visible at normal scale.

Yay! Someone is making a skin!